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OF    ILLINOIS    L.BRARY    AT    URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


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JUN  1  6  2005 


UNIVERSITY  OF   ILLINOIS 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 


URBANA,  AUGUST,  1903. 


BULLETIN    No. 


SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT  IN  ROTA- 
TIONS, WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE 
TO  SOUTHERN  ILLINOIS  SOILS. 


BY  CYRIL  G.  HOPKINS,  PH.  D.,  CHIEF  IN  AGRONOMY  AND  CHEMISTRY. 


In  connection  with  the  investigation  of  Illinois  soils,  the  University 
of  Illinois  is  conducting  soil  experiment  fields  on  the  most  important 
types  of  soil  in  different  sections  of  the  state.  The  object  of  these  ex- 
periments is  to  determine  the  best  methods  of  soil  treatment  and  the 
most  suitable  rotations  for  maintaining  and  increasing  the  productive 
capacity  of  Illinois  soils.  These  soil  experiment  fields  have  been  in 
operation  only  two  years,  but  some  results  already  obtained  are  so  sug- 
gestive that  it  is  believed  they  will  be  of  value  to  the  farmers  and  land 
owners  of  Illinois,  and  for  that  reason  this  preliminary  bulletin  is  pub- 
lished at  this  time,  giving  results  obtained  with  various  kinds  of  soil 
treatment  for  wheat  grown  in  rotations.  It  should  be  definitely  under- 
stood that  the  soil  treatment  and  rotations  which  we  are  trying  must  be 
followed  for  six  or  eight  years  at  least  before  final  conclusions  can  be 
drawn,  whereas  we  have  obtained  only  two  years'  results,  not  having 
had  time  as  yet  to  complete  even  a  three-year  rotation. 

113 


114  BULLETIN  No.  88.  [August, 

PLAN  OF  EXPERIMENTS. 

The  plan  of  the  rotations  which  we  have  adopted  includes  a  liberal  use 
of  legumes  (clover,  cow  peas,  soy  beans,  vetch,  etc.),  both  as  catch  crops 
and  as  regular  crops  in  the  rotation,  but  the  1902  crops  were  the  first  we 
have  grown  upon  these  soil  experiment  fields,  and,  of  course,  the  wheat 
grown  that  year  preceded  the  leguminous  catch  crops  and  received  no 
benefit  from  them.  In  1903  the  wheat  on  certain  plots  followed  either 
a  regular  crop  or  a  catch  crop  of  legumes,  grown  in  1902. 

Our  regular  three-year  rotation  is  as  follows : 

First  year — Corn  or  wheat  (with  a  legume  catch  crop  on  certain  plots). 

Second  year — Oats  (with  a  legume  catch  crop  on  the  same  plots  as  in 
the  first  year). 

Third  year — Legume  (clover,  cow  peas,  or  some  other  legume). 

All  legume  catch  crops  are  plowed  under  for  the  benefit  of  the  land. 
(Wherever  practicable  they  may  be  pastured  off.) 

For  a  catch  crop  with  corn,  cow  peas  or  soy  beans  are  seeded 
between  the  rows  when  the  corn  is  laid  by,  about  the  first  of  July;  or  win- 
ter vetch  may  be  seeded  with  the  cow  peas  or  soy  beans  or  it  may  be 
seeded  alone  when  the  corn  is  laid  by,  or  at  any  time  during  July  or 
August.  The  cow  peas  or  soy  beans  usually  grow  rapidly  until  frost, 
while  the  vetch  grows  much  more  slowly  at  first,  but  continues  to  grow 
during  the  fall  and  again  the  next  spring.  In  favorable  seasons  clover 
may  be  seeded  in  the  corn  when  it  is  laid  by  to  serve  as  a  catch  crop. 

For  a  catch  crop  with  wheat  or  oats,  clover  may  be  seeded  in  the  spring 
or  cow  peas,  soy  beans,  or  winter  vetch  may  be  seeded  as  soon  as  possible 
after  the  wheat  or  oats  is  harvested,  the  stubble  ground  being  either 
disked  or  preferably  plowed,  before  seeding  the  catch  crop. 

The  regular  legume  crop  is  usually  all  harvested  and  removed  from 
the  land,  but  on  land  which  is  very  deficient  in  nitrogen  this  full  crop  of 
legumes  may  be  plowed  under  on  the  same  plots  upon  which  legume 
catch  crops  are  grown. 

A  regular  four-year  rotation  may  be : 
Corn,  corn,  oats  and  legume,  or 
corn,  oats,  wheat  and  legume,  or 
wheat,  wheat,  oats  and  legume. 

A  five-year  rotation  would  be  the  same  as  a  four-year  rotation  except 
that  it  would  include  one  more  crop  of  corn  or  wheat,  or  one  of  timothy. 

In  all  rotations  certain  plots  are  seeded  with  legume  catch  crops  every 
year.  When  a  legume  catch  crop  is  grown  or  when  the  regular  full  crop 
of  legumes  on  any  plot  is  plowed  under,  it  is  termed  "legume  treatment." 
It  is  not  called  "legume  treatment"  when  a  full  crop  of  legumes  is  grown 
and  the  entire  crop  removed  from  the  land,  as  is  usually  done  one  year 
in  all  rotations. 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  115 

Where  lime  is  applied  the  amount  used  is  governed  by  the  need  of  the 
soil  as  ascertained  by  a  determination  of  the  soil  acidity.  On  some  soils 
the  first  application  must  be  heavy,  sometimes  amounting  to  several  tons, 
but  afterward  an  application  of  1,000  or  2,000  pounds  once  in  six  or  eight 
years  will  probably  be  sufficient  to  keep  the  soil  sweet. 

Where  phosphorus  is  applied,  the  regular  plan  is  to  apply  400  pounds 
of  fine  ground  steamed  bone  meal  the  first  year  and  afterwards  200 
pounds  a  year.  (On  some  fields,  instead  of  400  or  200  pounds  of  bone 
meal,  we  use  1,000  or  500  pounds,  respectively,  of  ground  rock  phosphate.) 

Where  potassium  is  applied,  the  plan  is  to  apply  200  pounds  of  potas- 
sium chlorid  ("muriate"  of  potash),  or  200  pounds  of  potassium  sul- 
fate  the  first  year,  and  afterward  100  pounds  a  year. 

On  some  of  the  fields,  farm  manure  is  also  applied  to  certain  plots,  not 
only  alone,  but  also  in  various  combinations  with  other  fertilizers.  Where 
manure  is  applied,  the  regular  plan  is  to  apply  it  at  the  rate  of  two  tons 
per  acre  per  annum,  but  it  is  applied  only  once  in  a  rotation.  Thus, 
in  a  three-year  rotation  of  corn,  oats,  and  clover  the  manure  would  be 
applied  at  the  rate  of  six  tons  per  acre  for  the  corn  crop  only.  In  a  four- 
year  rotation,  eight  tons  per  acre  would  be  applied  once  in  four  years. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  in  considering  yields  from  field 
experiments  some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  natural  variation 
which  may  exist  between  different  plots.  Very  great  care  was  taken  in 
locating  these  soil  experiment  fields  to  select  uniform  land  and  our  regu- 
lar rule  is  to  use  the  best  land  for  the  check  plots  (plots  with  no  treatment) 
in  case  there  is  any  indication  of  soil  variation  in  the  field.  This  is  done  in 
order  that  the  results  obtained  by  soil  treatment  shall  not  be  exaggerated. 

In  this  connection  I  have  great  pleasure  in  expressing  my  sincere 
appreciation  of  the  faithful  care  and  patience  of  the  progressive  farmers 
upon  whose  farms  our  soil  experiment  fields  are  located,  who  have  had  im- 
mediate charge  of  the  regular  work  in  carrying  on  these  soil  experiments. 
Their  names  are  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  descriptions  of  the 
individual  fields. 

Especial  credit  is  due  to  my  field  assistant  in  soil  experiments,  Mr.  J.  E. 
Readhimer,  who  has  superintended  all  of  these  fields,  and  has  taken 
immediate  charge  of  all  operations  not  included  in  ordinary  farm  work, 
such  as  applying  the  different  elements  of  plant  food  to  the  proper  indi- 
vidual plots,  taking  exact  yields  of  crops  produced,  and  other  unusual  work. 

(For  more  complete  information  regarding  the  different  elements  of 
plant  food,  the  amounts  required  by  different  crops,  and  the  purchase, 
use,  and  application  of  fertilizers,  and  for  descriptions  of  the  different 
soil  areas  in  the  state,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Illinois  Experiment 
Station  Circular  No.  68,  "Methods  of  Maintaining  the  Productive  Capacity 
of  Illinois  Soils,"  which -will  be  sent  upon  request  to  any  farmer  or  land 
owner  in  the  state.) 


116  BULLETIN  No.  88.  [August, 

VIENNA  SOIL  EXPERIMENT  FIELD. 

This  experiment  field  is  located  in  the  N.  E.  10,  N.  E.  40,  N.  E.  -J,  Sec.  9, 
Twp.  13  S.,  R.  3  E.  of  3d  P.  M.,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  J.M.  Price,  near  Vienna, 
Johnson  County,  on  soil  which  is  believed  to  be  fairly  representative  of 
the  common  so-called  "red  clay"  hill  soil,  the  principal  type  in  the  un- 
glaciated  area,  which  includes  the  seven  southernmost  counties  in  the  state. 

This  experiment  field  consists  of  fifteen  fifth-acre  plots  arranged  in 
three  series  of  five  plots  each,  numbered  from  1  to  5. 

The  rotation  for  this  field  is : 

First  Year — Corn  or  wheat  (with  a  legume  catch  crop  on  plots  2,  3,  4, 
and  5). 

Second  Year — Oats  (with  a  legume  catch  crop  on  plots  2,  3,  4,  and  5). 

Third  Year. — Legume  (clover,  cow  peas,  soy  beans,  or  some  other 
legume). 

All  regular  crops  in  the  rotation  are  grown  every  year;  thus,  one  series 
of  five  plots  may  grow  wheat,  the  next  series  oats,  and  the  third  series  cow 
peas.  The  following  year  wheat  would  follow  the  cow  peas,  oats  follow 
the  wheat,  and  cow  peas  would  be  seeded  on  the  series  which  had  grown 
oats.  Thus  every  crop  is  grown  every  year,  which  would  not  be  the  case 
if  we  made  use  of  only  one  series  of  plots  growing  wheat  one  year,  oats  the 
next,  and  cow  peas  the  next.  The  soil  treatment  is  the  same  for  each 
series.  Plot  No.  1  (in  each  series)  receives  no  soil  treatment,  plot  No.  2 
receives  the  legume  treatment;  plot  No.  3  legume  treatment  and  lime; 
plot  No.  4  legume  treatment  with  lime  and  phosphorus;  and  plot  No.  5 
legume  treatment  with  lime,  phosphorus,  and  potassium.  Thus  lime  is 
applied  to  plots  3, 4,  and  5;  phosphorus  to  plots  4  and  5;  and  potassium  is 
applied  to  plot  5  only. 

Wheat  was  not  grown  on  the  Vienna  field  in  1902,  but  in  1903  it  was 
grown  on  one  series  of  five  plots.  These  plots  had  grown  a  regular  crop 
of  cow  peas  in  1902  and  on  plots  2,  3,  4,  and  5,  this  legume  crop  had  been 
plowed  under. 

Table  1  shows  the  kinds  of  treatment  applied  to  the  different  plots  and 
the  yields  of  wheat  obtained  in  1903. 

TABLE  1. — CROP  YIELDS  IN  SOIL  EXPERIMENTS;  VIENNA  FIELD. 


Soil 
plot 
No. 

Soil  treatment  applied*  to  "  Red  Clay  " 
ciated  area. 

hill  soil  of  the  ungla- 

Bushels  per 
acre,  wheat, 
1903 

1 

None  

0.4f 

2 

Legume  . 

0  5t 

3 

Legume,  lime  . 

0  7t 

4 

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus  

8.0 

5 

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  . 

11.0 

*  Only  a  part  of  the  lime  was  applied  before  growing  the  1902  crop;  the  rest  after 
that  crop  was  harvested. 

t  The  yields  for  these  three  plots  were  estimated  (see  Table  2). 


1903.] 


SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT. 


117 


The  wheat  was  practically  a  total  failure  on  the  three  plots  which  had 
received  no  phosphorus,  although  a  crop  of  legumes  had  been  turned 
under  on  plot  2  and  legumes  with  lime  on  plot  3. 

Plot  4  which  received  phosphorus,  with  legume  treatment  and  lime, 
yielded  eight  bushels  per  acre;  and  plot  5,  which  received  legume  treat- 
ment with  lime,  phosphorus,  and  potassium,  yielded  eleven  bushels. 

Of  course  the  season  was  considered  exceptionally  unfavorable  for 
wheat,  otherwise  a  small  crop  at  least  would  have  been  obtained  on  the 
untreated  plot.  Many  large  fields  of  wheat  in  the  vicinity  of  Vienna 
were  practically  failures,  several  farmers  reporting  yields  no  greater  than 
the  seed  which  had  been  sown. 

ODIN  SOIL  EXPERIMENT  FIELD. 

This  experiment  field  is  located  chiefly  in  the  S.  W.  40,  S.  W.-J,  Sec.  14, 
Twp.  2  N.,  R.  1  E.  of  3d  P.  M.,  on  the  farm  of  Col.  N.  B.  Morrison,  near 
Odin,  Marion  County,  on  the  ordinary  gray  silt  soil  (commonly  called 
"white  clay"  soil)  of  the  lower  Illinoisan  glaciation,  a  soil  area  which  in- 
cludes more  or  less  of  about  twenty-five  counties  in  South  Central  Illinois. 

This  experiment  field  consists  of  forty  fifth-acre  plots  arranged  in  four 
series  of  ten  plots  each,  five  of  each  series  of  ten  plots  being  tile-drained 
and  the  other  five  not  tile-drained.  (Four-inch  tile  are  laid  about  three 
and  a  half  feet  deep  and  five  rods  apart,  one  string  through  the  center  of 
each  drained  plot.) 

Wheat  was  not  grown  on  this  field  in  1902,  but  in  1903  it  was  grown 
in  the  one  series  upon  plots  which  had  grown  oats  in  1902,  the  oats  having 
been  followed  by  a  catch  crop  of  cow  peas  on  certain  plots  as  indicated  in 
Table  2,  which  shows  the  kinds  of  treatment  applied  to  the  different 
plots  and  the  yields  of  oats  obtained  in  1902  and  of  wheat  obtained  in  1903. 
TABLE  2. — CROP  YIELDS  IN  SOIL  EXPERIMENTS;  ODIN  FIELD. 

OATS,  1902. 


Soil 
Slot 
0. 

Soil  treatment  applied  *  to  gray  silt  soil  of  the 
lower  Illinois  glaciation. 

Bushels  per  acre. 

Not  tile- 
drained. 

Tile- 
drained. 

1 

2 
3 
4 
5 

None  

15.8 
16.1 
14.1 
16.7 
18.8 

12.2 
10.3 
11.7 
19.2 
17.7 

Legume  

Legume  lime  . 

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus  

Leeume.  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  .  . 

WHEAT,  1903. 


1 

None  

0.4t 

0.5f 

Legume  . 

0  5f 

0  6f 

3 

Legume,  lime  . 

0  7t 

2  If 

4 

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus  .  .•  

5.8 

13.4 

5 

Leeume.  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  .  . 

14.0 

15.2 

*  The  legume  treatment  applies  only  to  the  crop  yields  for  1903,  and  only  a  part 
of  the  lime  was  applied  before  the  1902  crop  was  grown. 

t  The  sheaves,  or  bundles,  from  each  of  these  six  very  low  yielding  plots  were 
counted  separately,  but  the  wheat  from  the  six  plots  was  all  threshed  as  one  lot, 
and  the  weights  then  apportioned  among  the  different  plots  as  indicated  by  the 
number  of  bundles.  The  yields  from  the  first  three  lots  on  the  Vienna  Field  were 
estimated  to  be  the  same  as  from  the  corresponding  untiled  Odin  plots.  All  other 
yields  given  are  actual  weights. 


118 


BULLETIN  No.  88. 


{August, 


PLATE  1. — WHEAT  CROP  WITH  No  TREATMENT:   ODIN  SOIL  EXPERIMENT  FIELD. 

Plates  1,  2,  and  3  show  the  condition  of  several  of  the  wheat  plots  just 
before  they  were  harvested. 

Plate  1  is  from  a  photograph  of  the  tile-drained  plot  No.  1,  which  had 


PLATE  2. — WHEAT  CROP  WITH  LEGUME  AND  LIME  TREATMENT:   ODIN  SOIL 

EXPERIMENT  FIELD. 


1903.] 


SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT. 


119 


PLATE  3. — WHEAT  CROP  WITH  LEGUME,  LIME,  AND  PHOSPHORUS  TREATMENT: 
ODIN  SOIL  EXPERIMENT  FIELD. 

received  no  special  soil  treatment  and  which  yielded  0.5  bushels  of  wheat 
per  acre. 

Plate  2  shows  the  condition  of  the  wheat  on  the  tile-drained  plot  No. 
3  which  received  lime  and  on  which  a  catch  crop  of  cow  peas  had  been 
turned  under.  It  yielded  2.1  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre. 

Plate  3  shows  the  wheat  on  the  tile-drained  plot  No.  4,  which  received 
lime,  phosphorus  and  legume  treatment.  It  yielded  13.4  bushels  of 
wheat,  or  11.3  bushels  more  than  plot  No.  3,  the  increase  apparently  due 
to  the  application  of  phosphorus. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  tile-drained  plot  No.  4  (legume,  lime, 
phosphorus),  produced  a  noticeably  higher  yield  of  both  oats  and  wheat 
than  the  corresponding  undrained  plot,  the  difference  in  yield  being  2.5 
bushels  of  oats  and  7.6  bushels  of  wheat  in  favor  of  the  drained  plot. 
On  the  other  hand,  on  the  first  three  plots  the  tile-drained  land  gives 
smaller  yields  of  oats  and  only  slightly  larger  yields  of  wheat  than  the 
undrained  land. 

CUTLER  SOIL  EXPERIMENT  FIELD. 

This  experiment  field  is  located  chiefly  in  the  N.  20,  S.  E.  40,  N.  W.  \,  Sec. 
19,Twp.  5  S.,  R.  4  W.  of  3d  P.  M.,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  W.  E.  Braden  about 
five  miles  northwest  of  Cutler,  on  the  line  between  Perry  and  Randolph 
counties,  on  the  so-called  "white  clay"*  (gray  silt)  soil  of  the  lower 


*  This  soil  is  not  clay,  but  largely  silt.     It  might  be  called  a  gray  silt  loam;  it  is 
a  fine  friable  powder  (finer  than  sand) ;  but  it  is  not  plastic  clay. 


120 


BULLETIN  No. 


[August, 


Illinoisan  glaciation,  but  the  soil  at  Cutler  is  perhaps  a  slightly  better 
phase  of  this  type  than  that  at  Odin. 

The  rotation  experiments  occupy  thirty  fifth-acre  plots  arranged  in 
three  divisions  of  ten  plots  each.  Wheat  was  grown  on  ten  plots  in  1902. 
The  results  obtained  are  given  in  Table  3. 

TABLE  3. — CROP  YIELDS  IN  SOIL  EXPERIMENTS;  CUTLER  FIELD 


Soil 
plot 
No. 

Soil  treatment  applied  to  gray  silt  soil  in  the  lower 
Illinoisan  glaciation. 

Bushels  pur 
acre,  wheat, 
1902. 

1 

None  

12.8 

2 

None  

12  4 

3 

None  

12  4 

4 

None  ... 

13  3 

5 

None  .        ....            

12  9 

6 

Phosphorus 

16  9 

7 

Phosphorus         .        .                   ... 

16  1 

8 

Phosphorus,  potassium  

20.8 

9 

Phosphorus,  potassium  

19.4 

10 

Phosphorus,  potassium  

20.8 

In  1903  wheat  was  grown  on  ten  plots  which  had  grown  a  regular  crop 
of  cow  peas  in  1902.  On  plots  2,  4,  6,  and  8  the  cow  peas  were  turned 
under  ("legume  treatment");  but  on  the  other  plots  the  crop  of  cow  peas 
was  harvested  and  removed.  On  plots  3,  5,  7,  and  9  an  application  of 
farm  manure  was  made  to  the  cow-pea  stubble  ground,  which  was  then 
plowed  for  wheat.  Table  4  shows  the  results  obtained  in  1903. 

TABLE  4. — CROP  YIELDS  IN  SOIL  EXPERIMENTS;  CUTLER  FIELD. 


Soil 
B'ot 
0. 

Soil  treatment  applied  to  gray  silt  soil  in  the  lower 
Tllinoisan  glaciation. 

Bushels  per 
acre,  wheat, 
1903 

1 

None  :  

6.0 

2 

Legume  . 

9  2 

3 

Manure  

12.1 

4 

Legume,  lime  

13.5 

5 

Manure,  lime  

13.3 

6 

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus  

20.3 

7 

Manure,  lime,  phosphorus  

20.8 

8 

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  .  . 

26  8 

9 

Manure,  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  .  . 

24.0 

10 

Lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  

21.1 

The  yields  of  wheat  obtained  from  the  crops  of  1902  and  1903  on  the 
Cutler  experiment  field  certainly  show  very  markedly  the  effect  of  applica- 
tions of  plant  food. 

In  1902  there  were  five  plots  which  received  no  treatment  and  the 
yields  from  those  five  plots  were  exceedingly  uniform,  varying  from  12.4 
to  13.3  bushels.  Phosphorus  gave  an  increase  of  about  4  bushels,  and 
both  phosphorus  and  potassium  an  increase  of  about  eight  bushels,  above, 
the  yields  from  the  untreated  plots. 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  121 

In  1903  the  yield  on  the  untreated  plot  was  six  bushels.  Where  cow 
peas  had  been  turned  under  the  yield  was  increased  by  3.2  bushels,  and 
where  lime  was  applied  and  cow  peas  turned  under  the  increase  was  7.5 
bushels  over  the  untreated  plot,  making  a  yield  of  13.5  bushels.  Legume, 
lime,  and  phosphorus  gave  a  yield  of  20.3  bushels,  an  increase  of  14.3 
bushels  over  the  untreated  plot;  and  with  legume,  lime,  phosphorus,  and 
potassium  the  total  yield  was  26.8  bushels  of  wheat,  making  a  net  in- 
crease of  20.8  bushels  over  the  untreated  plot. 

Manure  produced  almost  the  same  effect  as  turning  under  cow  peas, 
except  that  when  no  other  treatment  was  added  the  manure  gave  2.9 
bushels  better  yield  than  the  legume  treatment,  whereas,  when  all  other 
treatments  were  added  (plots  208  and  209),  the  legume  gave  2.8  bushels 
better  yield  than  the  manure. 

Where  lime,  phosphorus,  and  potassium  were  applied  without  legume 
or  manure  (plot  210)  the  yield  was  21.1  bushels,  which  is  15.1  bushels 
more  than  the  untreated  plot,  but  5.7  bushels  less  than  where  cow  peas 
were  turned  under,  and  2.9  bushels  less  than  where  manure  was  used  with 
applications  of  lime,  phosphorus  and  potassium. 

It  is  probable  that  the  legume  supplies  more  nitrogen  (gathered  from 
the  air)  than  the  manure,  but  the  manure  adds  to  the  soil  a  small  amount 
of  phosphorus  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  potassium,  while  the  legume 
supplies  no  phosphorus  or  potassium  except  what  it  takes  from  the  soil 
in  growing. 


122 


BULLETIN  No. 


[August, 


S 

H  . 
<  Q 
«  ^ 

M  a 
H*-1 

o 
2; 

W 


o 

09 
O 


Plate  4  shows  the  wheat  crop  on  the  untreated  plot  No.  1 ;  and  Plate  5 
shows  plot  No.  6  (legume,  lime,  phosphorus)  on  the  left,  and  plot  No.  7 
(manure,  lime,  phosphorus)  on  the  right;  also  in  the  center,  between  the 
plots,  an  untreated  half-rod  division  strip. 

MASCOUTAH  SOIL  EXPERIMENT  FIELD. 

This  experiment  field  is  located  in  the  S.  20,  S.  W.  40,  S.  E.  J,  Sec.  17, 
Twp.  1  N.,  R.  6  W.  of  3d  P.  M.,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  George  Postel  (ope- 
rated by  Mr.  John  A.  Rumer),  about  three  miles  north  of  Mascoutah, 
St.  Clair  County,  on  the  brown  silt  soil  of  the  middle  Illinoisan  glaciation. 

This  soil  in  St.  Clair  County  is  evidently  a  somewhat  lighter  phase  of 
the  type  than  is  found  farther  north.  (This  is  the  principal  type  of  soil 
in  Sangamon  and  adjoining  counties,  but  in  St.  Clair  County  the  soil  is 
somewhat  older  and  more  worn.  ) 

The  rotation  experiments  on  this  field  occupy  forty  tenth-acre  plots, 
arranged  in  four  series  of  ten  plots  each.  The  rotation  followed  thus 
far  is  corn,  oats,  wheat,  and  cow  peas,  with  legume  catch  crops  on  certain 
plots  with  or  after  the  corn,  oats,  and  wheat. 


1903.] 


SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT. 


123 


§  S 

O   w 

=   K 


S  » 

go 


03     . 


W  H" 

H   « 

Si 
Ss 

03 


124 


BULLETIN  No.  88. 


[August, 


In  1902,  the  results  obtained  with  wheat  were  as  shown  in  Table  5. 
TABLE  5. — CROP  YIELDS  IN  SOIL  EXPERIMENTS;  MASCOUTAH  FIELD. 


Soil 
plot 
No. 

Soil  treatment  applied*  to  brown  silt  soil  of  the 
middle  Illinoisan  glaciation. 

Bushels  per 
acre,  wheat, 
1902. 

1 

None  

19.7 

2 

None  

15.2 

3 

None  

15.3 

4 

Lime  

17.7 

5 

Lime  

16.5 

6 

Lime,  phosphorus  

24.7 

7 

Lime,  phosphorus  

28.0 

8 

Lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  

29.8 

9 

Lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  

31.7 

10 

Lime,  phosphorus,  potassium     

39.8 

*  Only  part  of  the  lime  was  applied  before  growing  the  1902  crop. 

These  results  show  very  markedly  the  effect  of  phosphorus,  the  yield 
of  wheat  having  been  increased  by  that  element  from  about  sixteen 
bushels  to  twenty-six  bushels.  Where  potassium  was  applied  there  was 
a  farther  increase,  but  the  results  are  quite  discordant  from  plots  treated 
alike,  indicating  some  soil  differences. 

In  1903  wheat  was  grown  on  plots  which  had  grown  oats  in  1902,  a 
catch  crop  of  cow  peas  (seeded  on  the  stubble  ground),  having  been 
grown  after  the  oats  on  certain  plots  ("legume  treatment")-  The  ground 
was  plowed  for  wheat  about  September  20,  1902,  and  the  wheat  seeded 
soon  afterward.  The  weather  conditions  which  followed  proved  very  un- 
favorable for  wheat  seeded  on  late  plowing,  and  the  early  seeded  wheat 
was  badly  injured  by  the  Hessian  fly;  consequently  the  1903  wheat  crop 
on  these  plots  was  practically  a  failure — very  much  poorer  than  on  ad- 
joining land  which  had  been  plowed  early  in  the  fall.  The  results  ob- 
tained are  of  little  value  and  if  not  understood  would  be  misleading  as  to 
the  effect  of  the  different  kinds  of  soil  treatment.  Table  6  gives  the 
yields  of  oats  in  1902,  and  of  wheat  in  1903,  obtained  on  these  plots. 

TABLE  6. — CROP  YIELDS  IN  SOIL  EXPERIMENTS;  MASCOUTAH  FIELD. 


Soil 
plot 
No. 

Soil  treatment  applied*  to  brown  silt  loam 
of  the  middle  Illinoisan  glaciation. 

Bushels  per  acre. 

Oats, 
1902. 

Wheat, 
1903. 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 

None 

31.6 
37.2 
41.6 
43.8 
45.0 
46.9 
46.3 
50.6 
54.1 
57.8 

4.7 
5.0 
4.8 
7.5 
4.3 
10.5 
4.7 
8.0 
6.5 
7.4 

Legume  

None  

Legume,  lime  

Lime  

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus  

Lime,  phosphorus  

Legume,  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  

Lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  

Lime,  phosphorus,  potassium  . 

*  Only  part  of  the  lime  was  applied  before  growing  the  1902  crop,  and  the  legume 
treatment  applies  only  to  the  1903  crop  yields. 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  125 

Of  course  no  conclusions  regarding  soil  treatment  can  be  drawn  from 
the  1903  wheat  yields  on  these  plots,  unless  possibly  that  there  is  an 
indication  of  some  slight  benefit  from  the  "legume"  treatment,  especially 
in  connection  with  phosphorus. 

GENERAL  DISCUSSION  OF  RESULTS. 

The  tables  in  the  foregoing  pages  give  all  of  the  results  which  we  have 
obtained  in  1902  and  1903,  with  different  kinds  of  soil  treatment  for 
wheat  grown  in  rotations  upon  the  regular  University  soil  experiment 
fields,  located  in  different  sections  of  southern  Illinois.  They  show  some 
discrepancies  which  are  not  explained  by  the  differences  in  soil  treatment, 
but  which  may  be  due  to  variations  in  the  original  condition  of  the 
different  plots,  or  in  some  cases,  possibly  to  differences  in  the  amount  of 
injury  caused  by  the  Hessian  fly,  chinch  bug  or  other  insects,  which  can- 
not usually  be  ascertained  with  accuracy.  With  the  exception  of  the 
very  poor  1903  wheat  crop  on  the  Mascoutah  field,  the  results  in  general 
are  a  trustworthy  index  of  the  effect  of  the  soil  treatment. 

The  Cutler  field  is  on  very  uniform  soil  and  the  results  obtained  on  that 
field  may  well  serve  as  the  basis  for  a  general  discussion  of  the  effects  of 
soil  treatment.  While  the  results  in  1902  were  much  more  marked  on 
the  Mascoutah  field,  they  were  more  discordant  and  relatively  less  re- 
liable than  those  at  Cutler.  The  Cutler  field  includes  practically  the  same 
kinds  of  experiments  which  have  been  conducted  at  Vienna,  at  Odin,  and 
at  Mascoutah;  and,  in  addition,  the  manure  treatment  was  applied  at 
Cutler  for  the  1903  wheat  crop. 

During  the  two  years  about  three  tons  of  slacked  lime,  600  pounds  of 
bone  meal  (containing  about  13  percent  of  phosphorus,  or  seventy-eight 
pounds  of  that  element),  and  300  pounds  of  potassium  sulfate*  (con- 
taining about  40  percent  of  potassium,  or  120  pounds  of  that  element) 
have  been  applied  per  acre  on  the  proper  plots  at  Cutler.  On  certain 
plots  sixteen  tons  of  farm  manure  were  applied  per  acre  in  the  fall  of 
1902.  (This  was  a  heavier  application  than  it  was  intended  to  have  ap- 
plied, twelve  tons  being  sufficient  for  six  years,  or  six  tons  for  three  years, 
on  the  basis  that  two  tons  of  manure  per  acre  per  annum  is  as  much 
manure  as  a  stock  farmer  can  produce  from  the  crops  grown  on  his  own 
farm.)  Cow  peas  were  grown  in  1902,  and  on  certain  plots  the  entire 
crop  was  plowed  under  in  the  fall. 

It  is  not  expected  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  apply  any  more  lime  for 
at  least  five  years,  and  after  that  time  probably  1 ,000  pounds  of  lime  per 
acre  once  in  five  to  ten  years  will  be  sufficient  to  keep  the  soil  free  from 
acidity  and  in  suitable  condition  for  growing  legumes.  After  we  have 
grown  a  legume  catch  crop  for  one  rotation  we  do  not  expect  to  plow  under 
the  regular  legume  crop  on  any  of  the  plots,  but  to  depend  upon  the 

*The  chlorid  was  used  one  year  in  place  of  the  sulfate. 


126  BULLETIN  No.  88.  [August, 

legume  catch  crop,  and  the  stubble  and  roots  of  the  legume  used  in  the 
regular  rotation,  to  maintain  the  supply  of  nitrogen. 

The  question  naturally  and  necessarily  arises  whether  any  of  these 
different  kinds  of  soil  treatment  will  prove  to  be  profitable;  and,  if  so, 
which  treatment  is  likely  to  be  the  most  profitable.  While  the  experi- 
ments have  been  in  progress  only  two  years  and  of  course  no  final  con- 
clusions can  be  drawn,  yet  some  computations  can  easily  be  made  which 
.may  be  of  value  even  though  they  are  somewhat  tentative. 

The  yield  of  wheat  on  the  untreated  plot  was  six  bushels  per  acre.  At 
60  cents  a  bushel  this  amounts  to  $3.60.  Assuming  the  farm  to  be  worth 
$40  an  acre,  the  investment  at  5  percent  would  require  $2.00  to  pay  the 
interest.  This  would  leave  a  balance  of  $1.60  an  acre  to  pay  for 
raising  the  wheat.  But  even  this  amount,  $1.60,  is  too  high,  unless  the 
soil  which  grows  the  crop  contains  an  unfailing  supply  of  plant  food, 
which  is  certainly  not  the  case  with  the  principal  type  of  soil  in  the  lower 
Illinoisan  glaciation.  By  reference  to  Table  1,  page  4,  of  our  Circular 
No.  68,  "Methods  of  Maintaining  the  Productive  Capacity  of  Illinois 
Soils"  (which  will  be  sent  upon  request  to  any  Illinois  farmer  or  land 
owner),  it  will  be  seen  that  a  six-bushel  crop  of  wheat  would  remove  from 
the  soil  about  ten  pounds  of  nitrogen,  one  and  two-thirds  pounds  of  phos- 
phorus and  seven  pounds  of  potassium.  That  these  elements  of  plant 
food  actually  possesses  an  agricultural  value  in  this  soil  is  well  demon- 
strated by  the  crop  yields  from  this  field  as  shown  in  Tables  3  and  4. 
For  example,  we  have  applied  during  the  two  years  600  pounds  of  bone 
meal  per  acre  to  certain  plots  on  this  field.  The  bone  meal  contains  13 
percent  of  the  element  phosphorus,  or  thirteen  pounds  per  hundred, 
making  a  total  of  seventy-eight  pounds  of  phosphorus  applied.  The  first 
year  phosphorus  increased  the  yield  of  wheat  from  12.8  bushels  to  16.5 
bushels,  making  an  increase  of  3.7  bushels  of  wheat.  The  second  year 
the  phosphorus  increased  the  yield  from  13.4  to  20.6  bushels,  or  7.2 
bushels  increase,  making  a  total  increase  of  10.9  bushels  for  the  two 
years.  At  60  cents  a  bushel,  this  increase  of  10.9  bushels  would  have  a 
value  of  $6.54.  Dividing  this  amount  by  seventy-eight  we  find  that  the 
phosphorus  has  already  paid  back  in  wheat  more  than  eight  cents  a 
pound  for  every  pound  applied.  When  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  in- 
crease of  10.9  bushels  has  removed  from  the  soil  only  three  pounds  of 
phosphorus  and  that  we  have  seventy-five  pounds  of  the  phosphorus 
applied  still  left  in  the  soil  to  benefit  succeeding  crops,  we  can  then 
appreciate  the  fact  that  phosphorus  has  an  agricultural  value  in  this  soil. 

Now,  what  is  the  value  of  these  different  elements  of  plant  food, 
nitrogen,  phosphorus,  and  potassium?  They  may  be  valued  in  two 
different  ways. 

First.  They  have  a  commercial  value.  The  commercial  value  is 
what  it  costs  to  get  them. 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  127 

Second.  They  have  an  agricultural  value.  The  agricultural  value  is 
measured  by  the  increased  crop  yields  which  they  give  when  applied  to 
the  soil. 

These  two  different  values  are  almost  independent  of  each  other.  The 
commercial  value  varies  with  the  cost  of  preparation,  grinding,  trans- 
portation, etc.,  while  the  agricultural  value  varies  with  the  character 
and  composition  of  the  soil  to  which  the  plant  food  is  applied,  also  with 
the  kind  of  crop  to  be  grown. 

To  illustrate,  dried  blood,  which  contains  14  percent  of  nitrogen,  costs 
about  $42  a  ton,  wholesale  in  Chicago.  Thus,  280  pounds  of  the  element 
nitrogen  bought  in  this  form  would  cost  $42,  or  15  cents  a  pound;  and 
this  is  the  commercial  value  of  nitrogen  in  dried  blood.  The  nitrogen  in 
dried  blood  is  practically  all  available  for  the  use  of  plants. 

We  have  applied  dried  blood  on  several  soil  experiment  fields  located 
on  various  types  of  soil  in  different  sections  of  Illinois.  While  our  data 
are  not  yet  sufficient  to  warrant  final  conclusions,  I  may  say  that  thus 
far  the  results  from  these  field  experiments  have  given  the  nitrogen  in 
dried  blood  an  agricultural  value  varying  from  zero  to  about  2  cents  a 
pound,  measured  by  the  increase  in  crop  yields  produced. 

By  reference  to  Table  6,  page  24,  of  Circular  68,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
results  of  ten  years'  investigations  by  the  Ohio  Experiment  Station  show 
the  agricultural  value  of  nitrogen  applied  to  be  from  1.2  cents  to  9.1 
cents  a  pound,  while  the  cost  or  commercial  value  was  at  least  15  cents 
a  pound. 

All  of  these  results  refer  to  the  use  of  commercial  nitrogen  in  general 
farming.  Of  course,  in  market  gardening  or  in  other  intensive  farming 
upon  land  of  very  high  value,  and  where  crops  of  high  value  are  produced 
on  an  acre  of  land,  and  especially  in  the  forcing  of  early  vegetables  in 
order  to  obtain  the  highest  price  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  the 
agricultural  value  of  nitrogen  may  sometimes  amount  to  many  times  its 
cost.  Such  lands  are  usually  far  too  valuable  to  give  them  up  to  the 
growing  of  legumes  even  for  a  part  of  the  season. 

The  New  Jersey  Experiment  Station  has  recently  shown  that  the 
application  of  300  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda  per  acre,  costing  $6.75, 
increased  the  value  of  the  celery  crop  from  $118.30  to  $381.90  per  acre. 
This  was  due  in  part  to  increased  yield,  but  much  more  largely  to  im- 
provement in  the  quality  of  the  crop  produced.  It  is  also  very  probable 
that  nitrogen  could  be  used  with  profit  on  permanent  meadow  lands  near 
the  large  markets  in  the  eastern  and  southern  states  where  the  hay  can 
be  sold  directly  for  a  maximum  price,  with  little  or  no  expense  for  trans- 
portation. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  general  farmer  not  only  cannot  afford  to  pur- 
chase commercial  nitrogen,  but  there  is  absolutely  no  necessity  whatever 
for  him  to  do  so.  The  air  is  about  four-fifths  nitrogen,  and  as  the  atmos- 


128 


BULLETIN  No.  88. 


[August, 


§ 


H   H 

a  « 

H   W 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  129 

pheric  pressure  amounts  to  about  fifteen  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  there 
are  actually  nearly  twelve  pounds  of  nitrogen  resting  upon  every  square 
inch  of  the  earth  's  surface,  and  although  ordinary  agricultural  plants 
have  no  power  to  feed  upon  this  free  nitrogen  of  the  air  (being  depend- 
ent upon  the  combined  nitrogen  in  the  soil  for  their  supply),  we  now 
know  that  by  means  of  the  different  species  of  nitrogen-gathering  bacteria 
which  inhabit  or  should  inhabit  the  roots  of  different  legumes,  nitrogen 
can  be  obtained  from  this  free  and  inexhaustible  supply  of  the  atmos- 
phere for  about  1  cent  a  pound.  Thus,  for  example,  we  can  sow  red 
clover  in  the  wheat,  oats,  or  rye  for  less  than  $1  an  acre  and  grow  a  crop 
of  clover  containing  more  than  100  pounds  of  nitrogen  an  acre.  We  can 
also  accomplish  this  result  with  a  catch  crop  of  cow  peas,  soy  beans,  or 
vetch,  and  probably  with  crimson  clover  or  alfalfa  after  our  soils  become 
thoroughly  infected  with  the  proper  bacteria.  Exact  investigations  have 
shown  that  alfalfa  properly  infected  with  the  alfalfa  bacteria  obtains 
practically  all  of  its  nitrogen  from  the  air,  even  when  grown  on  the  black 
prairie  soils  of  central  Illinois. 

The  alfalfa  grown  in  pots  37,  47,  and  48,  Plate  6,  obtained  about  90 
percent  of  its  total  nitrogen  content  from  the  air.  (All  of  these  pots  were 
filled  with  ordinary  Illinois  black  prairie  soil,  which  had  been  thoroughly 
mixed  before  the  pots  were  filled.  The  only  difference  among  the  six 
pots  is  that  alfalfa  bacteria  were  added  to  the  three  pots  markr>H  "Bac.," 
thus  enabling  the  alfalfa  in  those  pots  to  obtain  nitrogen  from  the  air. 
Our  Bulletin  No.  76,  "Alfalfa  on  Illinois  Soil,"  will  be  sent  upon  request 
to  any  Illinois  farmer  or  land  owner  who  may  be  interested  in  alfalfa.) 
We  have  also  found  that  the  poorer  the  soil  the  greater  is  the  proportion 
of  nitrogen  taken  from  the  air,  as  compared  with  that  taken  from  the  soil. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  apply  any  nitrogen  to  the  soil  in  order  to  enable  legumes 
to  start  growing.  We  have  obtained  a  good  stand  and  luxuriant  growth 
of  legumes  in  a  soil  which  was  absolutely  free  of  nitrogen,  simply  by  pro- 
viding suitable  conditions,  including  a  sufficient  supply  of  the  mineral 
elements  of  plant  food  (as  phosphorus  and  potassium),  lime,  if  needed, 
and  thorough  inocculation  with  the  proper  species  of  nitrogen-gathering 
bacteria. 

What  then  is  the  commercial  value  of  nitrogen  ?  Manifestly,  what  it 
costs  to  get  it.  In  general  farming  it  is  probably  safe  to  say  1  cent  a 
pound — for  nitrogen  already  delivered  and  spread  over  the  ground. 

The  commercial  value  of  phosphorus  varies  with  the  form  in  which  it 
is  purchased.  Ground  rock  phosphate,  containing  at  least  12  to  13  per- 
cent of  the  element  phosphorus,  can  be  bought  in  carload  lots  for  $7  to 
$8  a  ton  delivered  at  almost  any  point  in  Illinois.  This  amounts  to  say 
$7.50  for  250  pounds  of  phosphorus,  or  3  cents  a  pound  for  the  element. 
Fine  ground  steamed  bone  meal  containing  12  to  13  percent  of  phosphorus 


130  BULLETIN  No.  88.  [August, 

can  be  bought  delivered  at  any  railway  station  in  the  state  for  $25  to 
$30  a  ton.  In  this  form  the  phosphorus  costs  about  12  cents  a  pound. 
Aside  from  ground  rock  phosphate,  the  steamed  bone  meal  is  the  cheapest 
form  of  phosphorus  on  the  market.  The  bone  meal  is  known  to  be  a  very 
satisfactory  form  of  phosphorus  to  use  and  the  results  of  our  experiments 
with  it  prove  that  it  acts  readily  as  a  source  of  phosphorus  for  wheat.  It 
has  not  been  treated  with  acid  and  is  suitable  for  use  on  any  soil  in  the 
State  which  needs  phosphorus.  As  stated  in  Circular  No.  68,  pages  16 
and  17,  some  experiments  have  been  conducted  (and  are  still  in  progress), 
which  strongly  indicate  that,  for  equal  amounts  of  money  invested  in 
ground  rock  phosphate  and  bone  meal,  the  ground  rock  phosphate  will 
give  about  as  good  immediate  results  when  applied  in  connection  with  a 
liberal  use  of  legumes  or  farm  manure,  and  will  be  more  lasting  in  its 
effect,  than  the  bone  meal.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  have  practically 
no  agricultural  value  if  applied  to  a  soil  exceedingly  deficient  in  organic 
matter  unless  accompanied  by  an  application  of  farm  manure  or  a  liberal 
use  of  legumes. 

The  commercial  value  of  the  element  potassium  is  about  6  cents  a 
pound.  The  cheapest  form  of  potassium  is  potassium  chlorid,  which 
contains  about  42  percent  of  this  element  and  costs  about  $50  a  ton. 
(See  Circular  No.  68  for  more  complete  explanations  regarding  the 
elements  of  plant  food,  how  and  where  they  can  be  obtained,  methods  of 
application,  etc.) 

Returning  to  the  discussion  of  the  yield  of  wheat  from  the  untreated  plot 
on  the  Cutler  Soil  Experiment  Field,  it  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  Table 
1,  page  4,  of  Circular  No.  68,  that  six  bushels  of  wheat  and  accompanying 
straw  would  remove  from  the  soil  about  ten  pounds  of  nitrogen,  one  and 
two-thirds  pounds  of  phosphorus  and  seven  pounds  of  potassium.  Allow- 
ing 1  cent  for  nitrogen,  3  cents  for  phosphorus  and  6  cents  for  potassium  as 
the  commerical  value  of  these  elements,  the  six-bushel  crop  of  wheat 
would  remove  10  cents  worth  of  nitrogen,  5  cents  worth  of  phosphoras 
and  42  cents  worth  of  potassium  from  the  soil,  making  a  total  of  57  cents 
from  an  acre.  If  we  consider  the  commercial  value  of  phosphorus  as  12 
cents  a  pound,  as  it  is  in  bone  meal,  then  we  have  removed  20  cents  worth 
of  phosphorus  or  72  cents  worth  of  the  three  elements.  We  shall  cer- 
tainly be  within  safe  limits  to  place  phosphorus  at  12  cents  a  pound,  as  it 
can  be  obtained  in  bone  meal  for  that  price.  (Bone  meal  is  a  form  of 
phosphorus  .which  has  been  used  for  many  years  and  it  is  known  to  be 
reliable  and  to  give  good  results,  consequently  we  are  safe  in  basing  our 
computation  upon  the  price  of  phosphorus  in  bone  meal,  although  it  is 
believed  that  when  used  under  proper  conditions  phosphorus  in  the  form 
of  ground  rock  phosphate  will  prove  to  be  more  economical.) 

Plot  No.  1:  No  treatment.  If  we  allow  $3.60  for  the  six  bushels 
of  wheat  and  then  deduct  $2  for  interest  on  the  investment  and  72  cents 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  131 

for  plant  food  removed  from  the  soil,  we  have  left  88  cents  to  pay  for 
raising  an  acre  of  wheat. 

Plot  No  2:  Legume  treatment.  This  plot  yielded  9.2  bushels 
per  acre,  which  at  60  cents  would  amount  to  $5.52.  The  cost  of  seed 
and  seeding  for  a  catch  crop  of  legumes  is  about  $1  an  acre,  varying  of 
course  with  the  kind  of  seed  and  method  of  seeding.  The  commercial 
value  or  cost  of  replacing  the  plant  food  removed  by  a  wheat  crop  yield- 
ing 9.2  bushels  amounts  to  $1.10.  Adding  to  this  the  cost  of  legume 
treatment  and  $2  for  interest  on  the  investment  makes  $4.10,  leaving 
1.42  cents  to  pay  for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat.  (It  may  be  stated  that 
we  have  really  allowed  double  pay  for  providing  nitrogen,  first  by  paying 
$1  for  the  legume  treatment,  second  by  charging  1  cent  a  pound  for  the 
fifteen  pounds  of  nitrogen  removed  in  the  crop.) 

Plot  No.  3:  Manure  treatment.  This  plot  yielded  12.1  bushels  per 
acre,  which  at  60  cents  a  bushel  would  amount  to  $7.26.  The  value  of 
the  plant  food  removed  by  a  wheat  crop  yielding  12.1  bushels  amounts  to 
$1.45,  counting  1  cent  for  nitrogen,  12  cents  for  phosphorus,  and  6  cents 
for  potassium,  per  pound. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  estimate  the  cost  of  the  manure  treat- 
ment. If  the  farmer  has  the  manure  on  hand  he  may  consider  that  the 
only  cost  is  the  hauling  and  spreading.  Even  if  he  hires  the  work  done 
this  should  not  amount  to  more  than  30  cents  a  ton  or  $4.80  for  the  six- 
teen tons  which  were  applied.  With  $2  for  interest,  $1.45  for  plant  food 
removed,  and  $4.80  for  the  manure  treatment,  we  have  a  total  of  $8.25 
expense,  or  99  cents  more  than  the  total  value  of  the  crop,  which  was 
$7.26.  In  other  words,  if  we  consider  the  first  year  only,  we  have  lost 
99  cents  an  acre  besides  the  entire  expense  of  raising  an  acre  of  wheat. 
This  would  make  a  poor  showing  indeed  for  the  manure  treatment;  but 
we  have  here  another  factor  to  consider,  namely,  that  the  value  of  the 
manure  is  not  exhausted  with  the  first  crop.  In  fact,  it  is  usually  of 
greater  benefit  to  the  second  crop  than  to  the  first  and  continues  to 
benefit  succeeding  crops  for  several  years.  (Attention  is  called  to  the 
fact  that  this  is  also  true  with  legume  crops  to  some  extent,  and  in  some 
cases  even  when  the  entire  crop  is  removed,  only  the  stubble  and  roots 
being  left  with  the  soil.) 

By  reference  to  Table  2,  page  12,  of  our  Circular  No.  68,  it  will  be  seen 
that  a  ton  of  average  farm  manure  contains  ten  pounds  of  nitrogen,  two 
pounds  of  phosphorus,  and  ten  pounds  of  potassium;  or  sixteen  tons  of 
manure  would  contain  160  pounds  of  nitrogen,  32  pounds  of  phos- 
phorus, and  160  pounds  of  potassium.  The  fact  that  the  effect  of  apply- 
ing manure  lasts  for  many  years  is  evidence  that  the  elements  of  plant 
food  which  it  contains  are  not  in  a  readily  available  form.  The  phos- 
phorus in  manure  should  be  as  valuable  as  that  in  ground  rock  phos- 
phate, and  probably  the  potassium  in  manure  should  be  valued  on  about 


132  BULLETIN  No.  88.  [August, 

the  same  basis;  that  is,  one-fourth  as  much  as  in  a  readily  available  form 
like  potassium  chlorid.  With  nitrogen  at  1  cent,  phosphorus  at  3  cents, 
and  potassium  at  1^  cents,  manure  would  be  worth  31  cents  a  ton,  or 
$4.96  for  the  sixteen  tons.  There  may  be  some  question  whether  1£ 
cents  a  pound  for  the  potassium  in  manure  is  a  fair  estimate.  We  be- 
lieve that  it  is.  By  referring  to  Table  4,  it  will  be  seen  that  although  the 
manure  applied  to  plot  7  contained  160  pounds  of  potassium,  most  of  it 
was  not  available  for  use  of  the  crop,  because  where  we  added  com- 
mercial potassium  (plot  9)  in  connection  with  the  manure  the  yield  was 
increased  from  20.8  to  24  bushels  per  acre. 

Manure  treatment  should  be  considered  as  adding  to  the  value  of  the 
land.  If  the  untreated  land  is  worth  $40  an  acre,  it  is  worth  $44.80  after 
sixteen  tons  of  farm  manure  have  been  applied  to  it.  The  added  plant 
food  becomes  a  part  of  the  permanent  investment,  I  say  permanent 
because  it  is  about  as  permanent  as  the  value  of  the  land  itself.  In  some 
places  in  the  eastern  states,  land  which  was  once  worth  $100  an  acre  or 
more  is  now  worth  $35.  Why?  Chiefly  because  valuable  plant  food 
has  been  sold  off.  A  twenty-bushel  wheat  crop  removes  82  cents  worth 
of  plant  food,  counting  nitrogen  at  1  cent,  phosphorus  at  3  cents,  and 
potassium  at  1£  cents  a  pound.  In  seventy-five  years  this  would  amount 
to  over  $60  worth  of  plant  food.  This  amount  would  practically  cover 
the  decrease  in  the  value  of  the  land.  The  farmers  of  southern  Illinois 
are  in  a  better  position  to  appreciate  these  facts  than  those  who  are  sell- 
ing 60  bushels  of  corn  a  year  off  from  the  comparatively  new  and 
naturally  rich  black  land  in  the  north  central  part  of  the  state. 

Returning  to  the  specific  discussion  of  plot  No.  3  (manure  treatment), 
if  we  allow  interest  on  $44.80,  we  only  add  24  cents  to  the  annual  expense, 
aside  from  paying  for  the  larger  amount  of  plant  food  removed.  On  this 
basis  plot  No.  3  should  be  credited  with  12.1  bushels  at  60  cents,  amount- 
ing to  $7.26,  and  charged  with  $2.24  for  interest  and  $1.45  for  plant  food 
removed.  Deducting  $3.69  from  the  total  receipts  leaves  $3.57  to  pay 
for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat. 

Plot  No.  4:  Legume,  lime.  This  plot  yielded  13.5  bushels  of  wheat 
worth  $8.10.  The  cost  of  an  application  of  slacked  lime  or  ground  lime- 
stone (one  to  two  tons  per  acre),  will  amount  to  from  $3  to  $6  an  acre, 
but  to  be  safe,  even  for  strongly  acid  soils,  let  us  say  $10  an  acre.  This 
is  a  direct  investment  and  it  must  be  added  to  the  value  of  the  land, 
making  it  $50  an  acre.  In  addition  to  this  it  may  be  necessary  to  apply 
half  a  ton  of  ground  limestone  every  five  or  six  years  to  keep  the  soil  free 
from  acidity  or  we  may  say  that  25  cents  worth  of  lime  per  acre  is  de- 
stroyed each  year  by  cropping.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  said  that 
ground  rock  phosphate  contains  large  amounts  of  lime  and  other  basic 
materials  (usually  some  lime  carbonate)  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
moderate  annual  applications  of  ground  rock  phosphate  will  be  quite 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  133 

sufficient  to  keep  the  soil  free  from  acidity,  after  it  has  once  been  cor- 
rected by  the  initial  application  of  lime. 

With  $2.50  for  interest,  $1  for  legume  treatment,  and  $1.87  for  plant 
food  removed  by  the  crop  (including  the  lime  destroyed),  we  have  a  total 
of  $5.37  to  be  deducted  from  $8.10  leaving  a  balance  of  $2.73  to  pay  for 
raising  an  acre  of  wheat. 

Plot  No.  5 :  Manure,  lime.  (The  chief  benefit  of  the  lime  on  this 
plot  will  doubtless  be  for  the  growth  of  the  legume  in  the  regular  rota- 
tion.) This  plot  yielded  13.3  bushels  of  wheat,  worth  $7.98.  After 
deducting  $2.74  for  interest  and  $1.85  for  plant  food  removed,  we  have 
left  $3.39  to  pay  for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat. 

Plot  No.  6:  Legume,  lime,  phosphorus.  This  plot  yielded  20.3 
bushels  of  wheat  in  1903,  but  we  must  also  credit  this  plot  with  the 
increase  of  3.7  bushels  which  this  treatment  (or  the  phosphorus  alone) 
produced  in  1902.  This  makes  a  total  credit  of  twenty-four  bushels, 
worth  $14.40.  The  seventy-eight  pounds  of  phosphorus  applied  would 
cost  $9.36  at  12  cents  a  pound.  This  must  be  added  to  the  value  of  the 
land,  making  the  total  value  $59.36.  With  $2.97  for  interest,  $1  for 
legume  treatment,  and  $3.13  for  plant  food  removed,  we  have  $7.10  to  be 
deducted  from  $14.40,  leaving  a  balance  of  $7.30  to  pay  for  raising  an 
acre  of  wheat. 

Plot  No.  7:  Manure,  lime,  phosphorus.  This  plot  yielded  20.8 
bushels  of  wheat.  Adding  the  increase  of  3.7  bushels  produced  by  the 
phosphorus  applied  for  the  1902  crop,  we  have  24.5  bushels  worth  $14.70. 
Deducting  $3.21  for  interest  and  $3.19  for  plant  food  removed,  we  have 
left  $8.30  to  pay  for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat. 

Plot  No.  8:  Legume,  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium.  This  plot 
yielded  26.8  bushels  in  1903.  Adding  the  increase  of  7.5  bushels  pro- 
duced by  the  phosphorus  and  potassium  in  1902,  we  have  34.3  bushels 
of  wheat,  worth  $20.58.  The  120  pounds  of  potassium  applied  to  this 
plot  at  6  cents  a  pound  make  $7.20,  which  must  be  added  to  the  value 
of  the  land,  making  the  total  value  $66.56  an  acre.  With  $3.33  for  in- 
terest, $1  for  legume  treatment,  and  $4.37  for  plant  food  removed,  we 
have  a  total  of  $8.70  to  be  deducted  from  $20.58,  leaving  a  balance  of 
$11.88  to  pay  for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat. 

Plot  No.  9:  Manure,  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium.  This  plot 
yielded  twenty-four  bushels.  Adding  the  increase  of  7.5  bushels  from 
the  1902  crop  makes  31.5  bushels  worth  $18.90.  The  cost  of  this  land 
is  now  $40  for  the  untreated  land,  $4.80  for  manure,  $10  for  lime,  $9.36 
for  phosphorus,  and  $7.20  for  potassium,  making  the  total  cost  $71.36  an 
acre.  With  $3.57  for  interest  and  $4.03  for  plant  food  removed  (in- 
cluding 25  cents  for  lime  destroyed)  amounting  to  $7.60  we  have  left 
from  the  $18.90  receipts  a  balance  of  $11.30  to  pay  for  raising  an  acre  of 
wheat. 


134 


BULLETIN  No.  88. 


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1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  135 

Plot  No.  10:  Lime,  phosphorus,  potassium.  This  plot  yielded 
21.1  bushels,  which  with  the  7.5  bushels  increase  from  the  previous  year, 
makes  28.6  bushels,  worth  $17.16.  Deducting  $3.33  for  interest  and 
$3.68  for  plant  food  removed,  leaves  a  balance  of  $10.15  to  pay  for  raising 
an  acre  of  wheat. 

Table  7  shows  these  data  from  the  different  plots  in  concise  form  for 
easy  comparison. 

Of  course  these  computations  might  be  somewhat  modified  for  different 
conditions,  depending  upon  distance  of  the  farm  from  the  railroad  station, 
the  price  of  wheat,  the  amount  of  lime  required  to  correct  the  acidity  of 
the  soil,  the  amount  of  potassium  found  most  profitable,  etc.,  etc.  It  is 
believed  that  the  estimates  which  have  been  made  are  on  the  safe  side 
for  the  farmer.  The  expense  of  applying  the  manure,  the  lime,  and  the 
legume  treatment  has  been  included  in  the  tabular  statement,  either  in  the 
investment  (when  the  application  lasts  for  many  years)  or  in  the  annual 
expense  (as  with  the  legume  treatment).  The  cost  of  the  phosphorus 
and  potassium  is  based  upon  well-recognized,  trustworthy  standard  forms 
of  those  elements,  allowing  the  full  market  price  for  them.  No  allow- 
ance has  been  made  for  the  expense  of  applying  those  two  elements,  be- 
cause there  is  practically  no  expense  necessary.  Even  if  both  phosphorus 
and  potassium  are  used,  they  can  be  applied  at  once  by  means  of  a  fer- 
tilizer drill  provided  with  fertilizer,  grain,  and  grass-seed  attachments, 
such  as  the  Superior  fertilizer  disk  drill.  We  have  used  this  drill  in  this 
way  and  know  that  it  can  easily  be  done.  Thus  we  can  run  bone  meal 
through  the  force-feed  grain  box  and  run  potassium  chlorid  through  the 
regular  fertilizer  box,  and  at  the  same  time  we  mix  the  fertilizers  as  they 
fall,  probably  more  perfectly  than  any  fertilizer  manufacturer  does  or  can 
do.  Furthermore,  we  can  make  any  brand  of  fertilizer  we  choose  by 
simply  varying  the  feed  of  the  two  boxes.  Thus  we  can  sow  200  pounds 
of  bone  meal  and  100  pounds  of  potassium  chlorid;  or  we  can  sow  300 
pounds  of  bone  meal  and  50  pounds  of  potassium  chlorid,  or  almost  any 
other  proportions  we  may  desire. 

If  only  one  fertilizer  is  used,  as  bone  meal,  it  can  be  run  through  the 
fertilizer  box  at  the  same  time  the  seed  is  run  through  the  grain  box. 
By  some  people  it  is  considered  the  best  practice  to  drill  the  fertilizer  one 
direction  and  then  drill  the  grain  crosswise.  In  this  case  both 'boxes 
could  be  used  for  fertilizers  the  first  time  over  the  ground.  By  using  a 
disk  drill  the  ground  can  be  disked  at  the  same  time.  There  is  no  objec- 
tion to  sowing  bone  meal  (raw,  common,  or  steamed)  or  ground  rock 
phosphate,  or  ground  limestone  through  the  fertilizer  box  at  the  same 
time  as  the  seed  is  sowed,  letting  the  fertilizer  and  grain  fall  together  in 
the  same  drill  row,  but  this  should  not  be  allowed  with  potassium  salts  or 
with  acidulated  bone  meal,  or  any  other  acid  phosphates  because  of  the 
injurious  effect  of  such  fertilizers  upon  the  germination  of  the  seed.  An 


136  BULLETIN  No.  88.  [August, 

end-gate  seeder  can  also  be  used  for  applying  bone  meal,  ground  rock 
phosphate,  potassium  salts,  or  light  applications  (500  to  1,000  pounds) 
of  ground  limestone.  If  potassium  is  used  it  can  be  applied  broadcast 
very  rapidly  with  an  end-gate  seeder,-  and  then  the  phosphorus  can  (in 
bone  meal  or  ground  rock  phosphate)  be  applied  through  the  fertilizer 
box  at  the  same  time  the  seed  is  put  in,  with  no  danger  of  injuring  the 
seed  and  with  practically  no  extra  expense.  Any  of  these  materials  can 
also  be  applied  by  hand  very  rapidly,  and,  if  care  is  taken,  very  uniformly. 
A  man  can  stand  in  a  wagon  (with  a  boy  to  drive)  and  he  can  spread  any 
of  these  materials  over  twenty  acres  in  a  day.  Last  spring  one  man  in 
Whiteside  County  spread  potassium  sulfate  at  the  rate  of  100  pounds 
to  the  acre  over  twenty-two  acres  of  swamp  land  in  less  than  one  day's 
time,  and  the  results  obtained  in  the  crop  show  that  it  was  applied  very 
satisfactorily. 

For  general  farming  in  Illinois,  there  is  absolutely  no  need  of  a  ready 
mixed  fertilizer.  It  costs  the  manufacturer  from  $4  to  $8  a  ton  for 
mixing  bone  meal  with  potassium  chlorid  (or  at  least  the  mixed  goods 
cost  the  consumer  that  much  more  than  the  raw  materials).  The  manu- 
facturer is  frequently  obliged  to  grind  up  rock  or  stones  or  some  other 
worthless  waste  material  and  mix  it  with  the  plant  food  material  which 
he  puts  in,  in  order  to  be  able  to  put  the  price  per  ton  down  so  that 
foolish  farmers  will  buy  it.  Of  course,  if  the  farmer  says  he  will  buy 
"fertilizer,"  but  he  "won't  pay  more  than  $20  a  ton  for  it,"  the  dealer  is 
bound  to  get  him  goods  that  he  can  sell  for  $20,  or  even  for  $15  a  ton  if 
necessary.  Sometimes  land  plaster  or  gypsum  (calcium  sulfate)  is  used 
as  the  "filler,"  or  "make  weight."  This  material  acts  as  a  stimulant  to 
the  soil,  causing  it  to  give  up  some  plant  food  and  sometimes  for  a  year 
or  two  to  yield  somewhat  better  crops,  but  it  contains  none  of  the  valua- 
ble elements  of  plant  food,  and  its  action  is  simply  more  completely  to 
exhaust  the  soil  of  its  remaining  stock  of  native  fertility,  finally  to  leave 
the  land  in  even  worse  condition  than  before  it  was  used.  Acid  phosphate 
such  as  acidulated  bone  meal,  acidulated  rock  phosphate,  and  so-called 
superphosphates,  all  contain  about  50  percent  or  more  of  gypsum,  pro- 
duced in  the  regular  process  of  manufacture,  besides  the  gypsum  which 
is  sometimes  added  as  "make  weight." 

No  general  farmer  in  Illinois  needs  to  purchase  more  than  two  ele- 
ments of  fertility.  These  are  phosphorus  and  potassium.  Bone  meal 
will  furnish  the  phosphorus  and  potassium  chlorid  the  potassium,  in 
the  cheapest  forms  which  are  known  to  be  available  and  without  in- 
jurious effects  on  Illinois  soils.  Yet  there  are  sold  every  year  to  general 
farmers  in  the  United  States  more  than  a  thousand  different  brands  of 
fertilizers.  Most  of  them  contain  more  or  less  nitrogen  (which  costs 
the  purchaser  at  least  15  cents  a  pound,  but  which  he  could  get  from 
the  air  for  about  1  cent  a  pound) ;  otherwise  they  have  no  value  except 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  137 

for  the  phosphorus  and  potassium  which  they  may  contain.  Some  fer- 
tilizer manufacturers  evidently  prefer  to  have  the  farmer  know  nothing 
about  soil  fertility  and  fertilizers,  excepting  that  their  "Big  Ox  Brand," 
or  their  "Money  Maker"  or  "Corn  Grower"  is  the  only  and  all  sufficient 
fertilizer  for  all  soils  if  not  even  for  all  crops.  Some  soils  are  deficient  in 
nitrogen  and  consequently  need  to  grow  legume  crops;  some  soils  need 
phosphorus ;  and  some  soils  have  an  abundance  of  both  nitrogen  and  phos- 
phorus (more  than  the  most  productive  black  prairie  soils  in  the  state), 
and  yet  are  exceedingly  deficient  in  potassium  (see  Table  4,  page  20  of 
Circular  No.  68).  On  the  other  hand,  some  crops  require  many  times  as 
much  of  one  element  as  some  other  crops.  (See  Table  1,  page  4,  of 
Circular  No.  68.) 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  state  that,  as  a  rule,  the  fertilizer  manufacturers 
and  dealers  in  Illinois  are  working  in  harmony  with  the  University  of 
Illinois  to  encourage  the  farmers  in  this  state  to  try  to  understand  what 
their  soils  need  to  increase  the  yields  of  the  crops  they  grow,  and  I  think 
farmers  who  desire  to  try  phosphorus  on  their  land  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  pure  bone  meal  from  such  trustworthy  firms  as  Nelson 
Morris  &  Company,  Union  Stock  Yards,  Chicago,  Armour  Fertilizer 
Works,  Swift  &  Company,  or  from  several  other  companies  located  at 
the  Union  Stock  Yards.  Several  of  these  companies,  including  the 
Armour  Fertilizer  Works,  also  sell  pure  potassium  salts,  such  as  potassium 
chlorid  (sometimes  incorrectly  called  "muriate"  of  potash)  and  potassium 
sulfate. 

As  a  rule,  not  more  than  one  of  these  two  elements,  phosphorus  and 
potassium,  is  needed  on  the  soils  of  the  state,  although  it  may  be  that 
both  elements  can  be  purchased  with  profit  for  use  on  some  southern 
Illinois  soils. 

The  element  phosphorus  can  be  purchased  for  about  12  cents  a  pound 
in  bone  meal,  or  for  about  3  cents  a  pound  in  ground  rock  phosphate. 
Good  steamed  bone  meal  and  good  ground  rock  phosphate  each  contain 
about  twelve  to  thirteen  pounds  of  phosphorus  in  100  pounds  of  the 
material.  The  element  potassium  can  be  purchased  for  about  6  cents  a 
pound  in  potassium  chlorid.  One  ton  of  commercial  potassium  chlorid 
(containing  about  80  percent  of  pure  potassium  chlorid  and  20  percent  of 
sodium  chlorid,  or  common  salt)  contains  about  840  pounds  of  the  ele- 
ment potassium,  which,  at  6  cents  a  pound,  makes  it  worth  $50.40.  It 
can  be  bought  from  Chicago  dealers  for  about  $50  a  ton.  Of  course 
freight  charges  from  Chicago  must  be  added  to  the  Chicago  price. 

The  fertilizer  law  of  Illinois  requires  that  every  bag  of  fertilizer  which 
is  sold  in  this  state  must  bear  a  printed  label  stating  the  percentage  of 
the  different  elements  of  fertility  which  it  contains,  and  any  farmer  can 
tell  from  the  printed  guarantee  just  what  a  bag  of  bone  meal  contains. 
Thus,  if  the  label  guarantees  the  goods  to  contain  12^  percent  of  phos- 


138  BULLETIN  No.  88.  [August, 

phorus,  this  means  twelve  and  a  half  pounds  of  the  element  phosphorus 
in  100  pounds  of  the  bone  meal,  or  250  pounds  of  phosphorus  in  one  ton 
of  the  bone  meal.  If  the  phosphorus  is  worth  12  cents  a  pound,  such 
bone  meal  as  this  would  be  worth  $30  a  ton.  Good  steamed  bone  meal 
contains  from  12  to  13  percent  of  phosphorus  and  is  usually  sold  at  retail 
for  about  $28  a  ton  at  almost  any  place  in  Illinois. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  said  that  the  statements  printed  upon 
bags  of  fertilizers  are  commonly  quite  complicated.  For  example,  the  fol- 
lowing statement  may  be  given  as  the  guaranteed  analysis  of  a  fertilizer : 

Name,  "  Soluble  Ammoniated  Bone  and  Potash." 

ANALYSIS. 

Available  nitrogen 1.25  to   2 .50 

Available  ammonia 1 . 50  to    2.75 

Available  phosphorus 4.00  to   5.50 

Available  phosphoric  acid 9 .00  to  12 .00 

Equal  to  bone  phosphate 20 .00  to  26 .00 

Total  phosphorus 6.75  to   8 . 50 

Total  phosphoric  acid 15 . 75  to  18 . 50 

Equal  to  bone  phosphate 34 . 25  to  42 . 50 

Soluble  potassium 1.50  to   3.25 

Soluble  potash 1 .75  to    3.50 

Equal  to  potassium  sulfate    3 . 25  to    6 . 50 

Now,  what  does  this  all  mean?  To  understand  this  analysis,  the 
farmer  should  first  cut  out  everything  except  the  minimum  guarantee 
of  the  elements,  nitrogen,  phosphorus  and  potassium,  as  indicated  by 
the  bold-face  type.  To  say  that  a  fertilizer  contains  from  4.00  to  5.50 
percent  of  phosphorus  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  it  contains  more 
than  4.00  percent,  and  4.00  percent  is  really  all  that  is  guaranteed. 
Furthermore,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  law  allows  (and  very 
properly  so)  a  deficiency  of  1  percent  below  the  guarantee  before  it  is 
considered  positive  evidence  of  fraud,  consequently,  the  fertilizer  may 
contain  only  3  percent  of  phosphorus,  under  a  guarantee  of  4.00  to  5.50 
percent,  and  still  be  within  the  limits  of  the  law.  It  should  be  stated, 
however,  that  goods  from  trustworthy  manufacturers  are  usually  up 
to  their  minimum  guarantee.,  Nevertheless  it  will  be  seen  that  a  fer- 
tilizer might  be  sold  with  this  long  statement  of  the  analysis  as  given 
above  and  complying  strictly  with  the  law,  it  might  nevertheless  contain 
only  the  following  percentages  (or  pounds  per  hundred) : 

Available  nitrogen 25 

Available  phosphorus 3 .00 

Total  phosphorus  5 . 75 

Soluble  potassium •     .50 

Now,  it  should  be  understood  that  the  farmer  does  not  need  to  pur- 
chase nitrogen,  and  consequently  that  item  should  not  be  considered  as 
adding  to  the  value  of  the  fertilizer.  Even  if  he  did  wish  to  buy  nitrogen 
this  amount,  .25  percent,  is  less  than  is  contained  in  a  normal  fertile  soil. 
In  other  words,  the  ordinary  black  prairie  soils  of  Illinois  are  worth  as 
much  a  ton  for  a  fertilizer  as  the  nitrogen  value  of  a  ton  of  any  com- 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  139 

mercial  fertilizer  which  contains  only  .25  percent  of  nitrogen  and  which 
may  be  lawfully  guaranteed  to  contain  1.25  percent  (some  peaty  soils 
found  abundantly  in  Illinois  contain  about  3.50  percent  of  the  element 
nitrogen) .  Many  soils  in  the  state  also  contain  more  than  .50  percent  of 
potassium,  and  a  fertilizer  should  not  be  considered  much  more  valuable 
because  it  contains  ten  pounds  of  potassium  in  a  ton  (either  potassium 
chlorid  or  potassium  sulfate  contains  800  pounds  of  potassium  in  a  ton 
(see  Circular  No.  68,  pages  4  and  11). 

In  this  connection  attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  fertilizers  are 
frequently  labeled  "Dissolved  Bone,"  "All  Soluble  Bone,"  etc.,  which 
are  not  made  from  bone  meal  at  all,  but  from  acidulated  rock  phosphate. 
As  rock  phosphate  contains  a  small  amount  of  potassium,  perhaps  .5 
percent,  and  as  the  sulfuric  acid  used  in  manufacturing  acid  phosphates 
usually  contains  a  small  amount  of  nitrogen,  a  plain  acid  phosphate 
could  be  made  which  would  conform  to  the  above  long  statement  of 
analysis  within  the  letter  of  the  law,  but  the  farmer  should  immediately 
reduce  such  a  statement  to 

Available  phosphorus 4 . 00  percent. 

Total  phosphorus   6 . 75  percent. 

and  the  absolute  guarantee  is  practically  only 

Available  phosphorus 3 . 00  percent. 

Total  phosphorus  5 . 75  percent. 

This  means  that  one  ton  of  this  fertilizer  contains  sixty  pounds  of 
available  phosphorus  worth  12  cents  a  pound,  or  $7.20,  and  fifty-five 
pounds  of  insoluble  phosphorus  worth  not  to  exceed  3  cents  a  pound,  or 
$1.65.  Thus  this  fertilizer  would  be  worth  $8.85  a  ton.  Of  course  it 
ought  not  to  be  used  on  Illinois  soils,  because  of  the  fact  that  it  is  an 
acid  phosphate  and,  so  far  as  we  have  yet  learned  from  our  soil  investi- 
gations, the  soils  which  need  phosphorus  are  already  too  acid,  and  con- 
sequently we  advise  farmers  against  the  use  of  acid  phosphates.  We 
also  strongly  recommend  that  they  do  not  buy  mixed  fertilizers. 

If  phosphorus  is  needed  (as  it  is  on  many  soils  in  the  state)  buy  fine 
ground  bone  meal  (either  raw  bone,  pure  bone,  or  steamed  bone,  the  last 
preferred)  and  apply  it  in  moderate  quantities,  say  200  pounds  an  acre 
a  year,  or  buy  ground  rock  phosphate  and  apply  at  least  500  pounds  an 
acre  a  year  in  connection  with  legumes  or  manure  or  both. 

If  potassium  is  needed,  buy  potassium  chlorid  or  potassium  sulfate 
and  apply  50  to  100  pounds  an  acre  a  year.  The  first  application 
on  lands  which  are  very  deficient  in  potassium  (as  some  of  the  swamp 
lands)  should  be  about  200  pounds  for  the  most  profitable  returns.  By 
reference  to  page  4  of  Circular  No.  68,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  grain  and 
stover  for  100  bushels  of  corn  require  seventy-one  pounds  of  potassium. 
It  would  take  about  175  pounds  of  potassium  chlorid  or  potassium 
sulfate  to  furnish  seventy-one  pounds  of  the  element  potassium.  Of 
course  the  roots  of  corn  also  require  potassium. 


140  BULLETIN  No.  88.  {August, 

If  any  one  prefers  to  pay  $16  to  $17  a  ton  for  kainit,  containing  10  per- 
cent of  potassium,  than  to  pay  $50  to  $55  a  ton  for  potassium  chlorid, 
containing  42  percent  of  the  element  potassium,  of  course  he  has  the 
privilege  of  paying  about  8  cents  a  pound  for  potassium  and  of  handling 
four  tons  of  material  instead  of  one.  Incidentally  he  pays  the  freight  on 
three  tons  extra  of  common  salt  and  other  worthless  material  contained 
in  the  kainit,  which  is  shipped  all  the  way  from  the  potash  mines  of 
Germany. 

We  especially  recommend  fine  ground  steamed  bone  meal  for  phos- 
phorus and  potassium  chlorid  for  potassium. 

SUMMARY  OF  BULLETIN  No.  88. 

The  results  thus  far  obtained  from  the  soil  investigations  reported 
in  this  bulletin  certainly  justify  drawing  some  very  definite  conclusions. 
The  amounts  which  are  mentioned  as  the  price  received  for  raising  an 
acre  of  wheat  is  for  seed,  labor,  use  of  tools,  cost  of  threshing  and  market- 
ing. The  interest  on  the  investment  (including  the  original  land  value 
and  the  added  stock  of  fertility  of  somewhat  permanent  character),  the 
total  cost  of  annual  soil  treatment,  and  full  payment  for  all  fertility 
removed  in  the  total  crops  (including  nitrogen,  which  is  really  also  cov- 
ered by  the  cost  of  legume  treatment  allowed  in  the  expense  of  annual 
treatment)  have  all  been  provided  for  outside  of  these  net  amounts  which 
remain  to  pay  for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat.  Furthermore  the  value  of 
the  straw  has  not  been  considered,  although  the  fertility  which  it  con- 
tains has  been  provided  for.  The  price  of  wheat  has  been  counted  at 
60  cents  a  bushel,  which  is  surely  conservative.  It  is  believed  that  the 
results  reported  are  thoroughly  trustworthy. 

First.  Legume  treatment  for  this  soil  is  profitable  as  compared  with 
no  treatment.  Legume  treatment  alone  increased  the  amount  received 
for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  from  88  cents  to  $1.42,  and  when  the  legume 
treatment  was  omitted  from  plot  8  (see  plot  10),  the  amount  received 
for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  decreased  from  $11.88  to  $10.15,  making  a 
reduction  of  $1.73  in  the  profits,  even  after  allowing  $1  for  the  expense 
of  the  legume  treatment,  and  not  taking  into  account  the  fact  that  the 
effect  of  the  legume  treatment  will  last  more  than  one  season. 

Second.  Manure  made  on  the  farm  can  be  applied  to  the  soil  with 
marked  profit.  (The  untreated  plot  paid  only  88  cents  for  raising  an 
acre  of  wheat,  while  the  manured  plot  paid  $3.57.) 

Third.  Moderate  applications  of  ground  limestone  to  acid  soils  give 
evidence  of  marked  improvement  in  the  growth  of  legumes,  but  more 
data  are  necessary  to  determine  fully  the  extent  of  this  improvement. 

Fourth.  The  application  of  phosphorus  is  very  profitable  soil  treat- 
ment. (It  should  be  applied  only  in  connection  with  manure  or  legume 
treatment,  unless  the  soil  is  already  well  supplied  with  nitrogen  and 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  '141 

organic  matter.)  Applied  with  legumes  and  lime,  the  phosphorus  in- 
creased the  amount  received  for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  from  $2.73  to 
$7.30.  When  applied  with  manure  the  increase  was  from  $3.39  to  $8.30. 

Fifth.  Potassium  has  also  been  applied  with  profit  especially  when 
used  in  connection  with  legumes  and  phosphorus,  the  amount  received 
for  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  having  been  increased  from  $7.30  (legume, 
lime,  phosphorus)  to  $11.88  (legume,  lime,  phosphorus,  potassium)  by 
the  addition  of  potassium,  making  an  increased  profit  of  $4.58.  (Phos- 
phorus made  $4.57.)  It  should  be  understood  that  the  use  of  potassium 
without  phosphorus  would  undoubtedly  result  in  loss  on  nearly  all  Illinois 
soils  (swamp  soils  excepted). 

In  this  connection  attention  is  called  to  the  effect  of  tile  drainage  in 
supplying  potassium.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  practically  all  of  the  soils  of 
the  state  (swamp  and  sand  soils  excepted)  contain  large  supplies  of 
potassium  in  the  subsoils,  say  between  twenty  and  forty  inches  below 
the  surface.  Tile  drains  laid  at  a  depth  of  forty  inches  permit  the  ex- 
cessive soil  water  to  pass  off  quickly  thus  causing  the  soil  to  become 
more  porous  and  allowing  the  air  to  enter  to  encourage  nitrification  and 
the  liberation  of  plant  food  from  the  subsoil.  The  plant  roots  are  en- 
couraged to  grow  deep  into  the  soil  and  thus  obtain  potassium  which 
they  could  not  obtain  if  the  subsoil  was  waterlogged  more  or  less  of  the 
time  during  the  season. 

The  results  already  obtained  in  support  of  such  a  theory  are  very 
meager  and  somewhat  conflicting,  and  more  data  are  needed  and  are 
being  obtained  as  rapidly  as  possible.  However,  in  view  of  the  facts, 
first  that  applications  of  potassium  have  markedly  increased  crop  yields 
on  this  type  of  soil,  and  second,  that  the  subsoil  is  actually  rich  in  potas- 
sium, it  seems  worth  while  to  call  attention,  tentatively  at  least,  to  the 
data  given  in  the  preceding  tables  indicating  that  tile-drainage  may  per- 
haps be  just  as  effective  and  more  economical  as  a  means  of  supplying 
potassium  to  the  growing  crops,  altogether  aside  from  the  other  marked 
benefits  which  tile-drainage  produces. 

By  referring  to  Table  2  it  will  be  seen  that  results  are  reported  from 
our  tile-drained  soil  experiment  field  at  Odin.  The  tile-drainage  in- 
creased the  yield  of  oats  in  1902  from  16.7  to  19.2  bushels,  where  legume 
treatment,  lime,  and  phosphorus  had  been  applied,  and  in  1903  the  tiled 
plot  with  this  treatment  yielded  13.4  bushels  of  wheat,  while  the  cor- 
responding untiled  plot  yielded  only  5.8  bushels.  It  will  also  be  noticed 
that  the  application  of  potassium  increased  the  yield  of  wheat  from  5.8 
to  14  bushels  on  untiled  land,  while  on  the  tiled  land  the  increase  due  to 
the  application  of  potassium  was  only  from  13.4  to  15.2  bushels.  Potas- 
sium benefited  the  oats  on  the  untiled  land  but  it  appears  even  to  have 
reduced  the  yield  on  the  tiled  land.  These  results  indicate  quite 
strongly  that  tile-drainage  at  Odin  may  enable  the  crops  to  get  about 


142 


BULLETIN  No.  88. 


[August, 


PLATE  7. — WHEAT  CROP  WITH  No  TREATMENT:   ORDINARY  FIELD  ON  GRAY 
SILT  IN  ST.  CLAIR  COUNTY:    ADJOINING  FIELD  SHOWN  IN  PLATE  8. 


PLATE  8. — WHEAT  CROP  AFTER  40  LOADS  WHEAT  STRAW  HAD  BEEN  LEACHED 
AND  BURNED  OFF:    ADJOINING  FIELD  SHOWN  IN  PLATE  7. 


1903.]  SOIL  TREATMENT  FOR  WHEAT.  143 

as  much  potassium  as  they  need.  Of  course  more  data  are  needed  be- 
fore final  conclusions  can  be  safely  drawn. 

In  conclusion  it  should  be  stated  that  the  season  of  1903  was  one  of  the 
worst  for  the  wheat  crop  which  has  been  known  in  southern  Illinois  for 
many  years.  It  seems  fair  to  expect  more  marked  results  and  larger 
yields  from  our  soil  experiment  fields  in  a  normal  season. 

Special  attention  is  called  to  the  very  evident  fact  that  the  poor  season 
is  not  altogether  to  blame  for  the  poor  crop  of  wheat.  We  can  realize 
this  better  when  we  remember  that  in  the  same  field  of  wheat  at  Cutler 
one  plot  produced  6  bushels  an  acre  and  another  26.8  bushels;  at  Odin  one 
plot  produced  0.5  of  a  bushel  an  acre  and  another  plot  15.2  bushels. 
Furthermore,  it  was  possible  to  find  some  good  patches  of  wheat  almost 
everywhere  throughout  the  wheat  growing  area  of  southern  Illinois.  For 
example,  plate  7  shows  the  wheat  crop  growing  in  an  ordinary  field  on  the 
farm  of  Philip  Postel  located  on  the  gray  silt  soil  in  St.  Clair  County, 
while  plate  8  shows  the  wheat  crop  growing  on  "strawed  potato"  land 
immediately  adjoining  this  field.  The  two  crops  as  indicated  in  the  photo- 
graphs were  growing  within  twelve  feet  of  each  other.  The  season  was 
the  same  for  each  and  the  soil  was  originally  exactly  the  same  type  and 
formerly  of  the  same  productive  capacity. 

Why  is  this  difference?  In  answer,  let  me  call  attention  to  the  facts 
that  this  excellent  plot  had  grown  potatoes  in  1901,  that  these  potatoes 
had  been  covered  with  some  forty  loads  of  wheat  straw  to  the  acre ;  that 
this  straw  had  lain  on  the  ground  for  a  year,  and  what  had  not  rotted  or 
leached  out  during  that  time  had  been  burned  and  the  ashes  containing 
the  lime,  phosphorus  and  potassium,  not  already  leached  out,  had  thus 
been  added  to  the  soil  in  readily  available  form. 

By  referring  to  Table  1,  page  4,  Circular  No.  68,  it  will  be  seen  that 
forty  tons  of  wheat  straw  would  thus  supply  to  the  soil  eighty  pounds  of 
phosphorus  and  680  pounds  of  potassium.  That  is  two  pounds  more 
phosphorus  and  560  pounds  more  potassium  than  we  have  applied  to  our 
soil  experiment  fields  during  two  years'  time,  besides  the  straw  must  have 
furnished  a  considerable  amount  of  nitrogen  (leached  into  the  soil  before 
it  was  burned).  This  object  lesson,  picked  up  in  passing  the  field,  serves 
to  confirm  strongly  the  results  obtained  on  the  experiment  fields  and 
emphasizes  the  tremendous  importance  of  plant  food  in  crop  production. 

Note. — This  bulletin  is  hurried  to  publication  with  the  thought  that  it 
contains  information  of  very  great  value  to  those  southern  Illinois 
farmers  who  will  be  sowing  wheat  within  a  few  weeks.  It  is  earnestly 
suggested  that  they  begin  at  least  in  a  small  way  to  build  up  a  piece  of 
land  and  thus  obtain  some  definite  knowledge  from  their  own  farms. 
At  least  try  200  pounds  of  bone  meal  on  half  an  acre  either  in  connection 
with  farm  manure  or  where  legumes  have  been  grown,  and  observe  the 
results  for  two  or  three  years. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN* 


